Do you ever struggle to check your children’s school work each week? Ever been behind in correcting those math problems or reading essays? Well, I know I’ve been there and I’ve finally come up with a way to stay on top of things.
First, I check work for my younger children (kindergarten through 3rd grade). A good portion of their work is done orally (narration, memory work, read-alouds, etc.) Any written work is generally done alongside me, and is fairly simple and easy to look over. So, I check their work as they go along or as soon as they’ve completed it.
My older set of children is where I’ve had difficulty keeping up (7th -11th grade) because just about all of their school work is written. There are essays, outlines, research papers and long (very long) math problems. To keep a good pace with their work, I alternate days of checking all their work between them. For example, on Monday, I will check all of my 7th grader’s subjects, and his alone. Tuesday, I will do the same for my 9th grader and then the same on Wednesday for my 11th grader. On Thursday, I begin that process again. If I miss a day or two, no worries; just pick up where I left off the next day.
You might be thinking, that was a no-brainer! Well, somehow, I thought that I was supposed to check all of the work for everyone, every day. (I guess it’s similar to many homeschoolers who feel they must complete the entire textbook to be successful.) I figured if my goal is mastery of the material, then that meant grading it all daily so the children could receive feedback and make any necessary changes immediately. Too much pressure!
The reality was that I ended up never being able to keep up with my own demands. Here’s what freed me: public school teachers don’t check all the work for every student every day. Not at all.
When I recall my own childhood public school days, not one of my teachers ever graded my work and got it back to me on the same day. There were several days, if not weeks, between completing an assignment and getting feedback or a grade. Additionally, instruction just kept rolling along, regardless of whether or not each child understood the material.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that we do things like the public schools. I mention them only to make this point: we can instruct our children without undue strain! With this approach to grading, I feel well-connected to any struggles my children may be experiencing, but I’m not overwhelming myself with an unnecessary burden. I can still make adjustments based on what my children need, we aren’t falling behind, yet I’ve given myself some breathing room.
How do you keep up with grading or checking your children’s schoolwork?
